Advice Needed: Mattress Shopping!

Mattress shopping is pretty much the worst.  All of the dreaded rigmarole of car shopping with the added disadvantage of having to lay down on sample mattresses that who-knows-who have laid on before.  

Yuck.  

We've been mattress shopping twice in the past year to buy a King size mattress.  When we got married, 11.5 years ago, we bought a Queen because that's what could fit in our apartment.  Since the moment the honeymoon was over, I have wanted a King.  Don't get me wrong, I am completely smitten with my husband but I just need my space, and Phil is tall, and I'm always pregnant or nursing a baby (it seems), and would everyone quit.touching.me.already!  

The first time we went looking for a King was an impromptu stop with all of the kids.  Imagine how stress-free testing out mattresses was while yelling at kids to stop jumping all over the furniture.  Yeah, not so much.  We didn't buy one then because we really weren't concentrating enough to make such a big financial decision.  But, this year for Christmas, we scrapped any holiday trip planning or surprise gift giving, and declared this Christmas Gift to ourselves would be buying a new bed.  I'm so excited because sleeping is my favorite.  

We were a little smarter last week, and got a babysitter to come over so we could go mattress shopping sans children.  It was still just as stressful.  

Me (huffing and puffing as I try to lay my hugely pregnant body down and then get back up 25 times): I don't even care.  They all feel the same to me.  I'm not picky at all.  You just choose.

Phil: Oh no, because as soon as we get it home, it will be my fault if it's not comfortable.

Me: Seriously, you make the call, and I won't ever complain about it.

Phil: mmmm-hmmmmm.

Me (laying down in the final bed): Ok, fine, this one is perfect.  This is the only one that spoke to me.  It's like the bed is hugging me.  Let's get this one.

Phil (looking at the price tag): You would pick the most expensive bed in the whole place.

Me: Hmmmph.  Well how are we going to make a decision?

Phil: Why don't you ask your blog friends?

And so I am.  

Give me your advice...what mattress brand(s) do you have, and what are your opinions?  We tend to like a plush yet firm mattress (comfort level 4ish), I sleep on my side and Phil sleeps on his back or stomach and I do not like the feel of Tempurpedics. 

Three Link-Ups in One Post!

1)
The Wise Men ADVENTures continue (link-up with Jennifer)

Day 4: Travelling in the cat's tunnel toy..."and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnell."

Day 5: Who are these impostors?

Day 6: Following the star.

Day 7: Finding gold for the King.

Day 8: Climbing to higher ground.

2)

Mary has a favorite image of Our Lady link-up going on, and mine is so obvious.  

It's actually my little Blogger photo whenever I leave comments on blogs.  Not because I think I am Mary-like, but because I like Mary :)  We also having it hanging above our fireplace in our home:

Kids dressed up on All Saints Day

She's called Madonna of the Streets, and I loved this image from the first time I saw it (which I can't even remember!)  because Mary looks so young and innocent, holding her sleeping baby boy, yet like she knows what the future holds.  Whenever I'm having a difficult mothering day, I look to her and think "If she could go through all of that so young, maybe there's hope for me too."  I could ponder images of Mary forever...what did she know, how did she feel, what was she thinking?  I love her so.

3)

Linking up with Rosie for What They Said:

Playing hide and seek with Phil...
Xander: Hey, you scared me!  You a bad boy!

Maggie's new bedroom door sign.  Glad I'm an adult!

Xander: I wanna get in there with the baby!

Now we're just waiting for the snow!!  Stay warm everybody :)

7 QT: St. Nick, Sickies, and Santa Squabbles

1)

Happy St. Nicholas Day!!

 The big kids and I picked up some donuts on the way to work/school.  A feast day = you are required to feast, right?

2)

It's the Winter Family Birthday Party this weekend.  

That means that any of the 20 nieces and nephews on my side who were born in the winter will be celebrated this Sunday.  We do about five family birthday parties each year - the September birthdays (celebrated around Labor Day), October birthdays (celebrated around Halloween), the Winter birthdays, the Spring birthdays, and the Summer birthdays.  

Each birthday kid gets a present from their godparents, and that's it!  No buying for each kid on every birthday, it's just too much!  And the kids don't know any different.  We do Christmas the same way...each kid only gets one present from my side of the family.  

3)

'Tis the season for chapped lips!  This is what my kids look like when they go to bed, slathered with Eucerin.  

And we wonder why her hair is greasy in the morning.

It's time to pull out the humidifiers, but since it's usually Phil that cleans and fills them every couple days, he's not always gung-ho about starting that process.

4)

So at work, when a student gets an in-school suspension (which is a rare occurrence) they sit at a desk right outside my office and do their school work for the day.  I have to stare at the back of their head all day, but it's usually not too bad.  Until yesterday's kid.  He had the worst cold.  He went through my whole tissue box and then got another one because he literally blew his nose and sneezed every 5 minutes.  I thought he was going to blow his brains out.  Guess where he threw his dirty tissues?  IN HIS BACKPACK!!!  Oh my gosh, so disgusting.  I gave him a trash can to use after I realized what he was doing.  

(PSA: Moms of school kids...clean out their backpacks every week.  Kids are gross.)

At one point, he was sucking on a cough drop and I could smell the vapors in my office, and I rationally thought to myself "If I can smell his cough drop, then I am breathing all his germy germs."  Everytime I left my office and had to walk by him, I would hold my breath.  I fully expect to be sick in 3 days time.

5)

Speaking of germs, I got my flu shot on Wednesday.  

No, not that kind of shot, I wish!

It was actually very dramatic, as I was walking into the office to get the shot, I saw my doctor and we stopped and chatted for awhile.  He congratulated me on the pregnancy, and the medical assistant turned to me and said:

"YOU'RE PREGNANT????"

Me: Um, yes, that's what this gigantic belly is.

Her: You can't get a flu shot when you're pregnant.

Me: I thought it was recommended for pregnant ladies and the elderly.

Her: Hang on, I have to get the nurse.

(Me and Xander sit in the office for ten minutes, watching Mickey Mouse Christmas on Netflix on my phone.)

Doctor comes in: We are going to call your OB's office to make sure you can have this.

Me: Ok, I already checked with my midwife's office, and they said as long as I normally get it, I can continue to get it.

Doctor: We just want to double check.

(How obvious is it that pregnant women are just not very common?!?!?!?!  Sad.)

Xander and I continue to discuss how silly Donald Duck is.

Nurse: Ok, you can have this one.  You can't have the vial one, but the individual flu shot is fine.

Me: Ummmm, okay, at least I won't be paranoid now??  (Way to calm my nerves!)

So far, no side effects, and if I end up getting sick, I'm blaming the kid from suspension anyway.

6)

Phil and I were cooking in the kitchen...

Maggie: Ooooh, the kissing part is coming soon!

Me: Nope, we're just cooking.

Maggie: The Kissing Part, coming soon to DVD.

7)

Eamon's teacher called me yesterday afternoon to kindly inform me that some parents have told her that Eamon is telling their kids that Santa isn't real, and neither is Elf on the Shelf.

Part of me was all "You realize that Santa and Elf on the Shelf are NOT real, right? So exactly what is he doing wrong?"

But the more sensible part of me was all "AHHHHHHH, he is my 3rd son to get in trouble in 1st grade for doing this exact same thing!  I'll talk to him and tell him not to ruin Christmas for the other kids."

Last night, Phil talked to the 3 older boys and reminded them that even if they don't believe in Santa, some kids do, and we shouldn't take that away from them.  Eamon cried and cried and cried.  

It is so hard disciplining your kid when they didn't really do anything wrong.  (You can read about why we don't encourage Santa in the comments below...it's just a personal decision).  Anyway, the whole thing makes me want to homeschool.

Alrighty, that's enough of my ramblings!  Have a wonderful December weekend everybody!